Improvement in metal-coated sad-irons



- WILLIAM H. HOWELL Improvement in Metal Coated Sad Irons.

No. 125,297, PatentedApril2,l872.'

UNITED STATES WILLIAM H. HOWELL, OF GENEVA, ILLINOIS.

IMPROVEMENT IN METAL-COATED SAD-IRONS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 125,297, dated April 2, 1872.

SPECIFICATION.

I, WILLIAM H. HOW'ELL, of Geneva, Illinois, have invented certain Improvements in Sad-Irons, of which the following is a specification:

My invention relates to a sad or smoothing iron as an article of manufacture the object being to provide an iron which shall have the face or bright part so coated with a metallic solution that it shall be impervious to rust and tarnish. It is awell-known fact that the ordinary sad-iron made of cast-iron, and having a brightly-polished face, is exceedingly liable to damage from rust and tarnish. Manufacturers are so well aware of this that they take extraordinary pains in packing this ware. The boxes in which sad-irons are packed must be made of the driest and best-seasoned lumber, and must be made very tight to exclude every particle of dampness. So also must the paper in which they are carefully wrapped be well dried and seasoned by a long hanging in a dry place. Notwithstanding all this care and the utmost caution, the hardware dealer will frequently find the sad-irons upon his shelves covered with a red bloom of rust, and so tarnished and roughened thereby as to be wholly unfit for use, and quite unsalable. To remedy this is the object of my invention, and I most effectually accomplish it by dipping the iron in ametallic solution, which adheres to the face or polished portions of the iron and presents a surface of metal which will not tarnish and rust. I usually employ an acid chemical solution of copper, which I find to be the most convenient, and which presents a beautiful appearance on the iron.

The solution may be the ordinary one of sulphuric or nitric acid saturated with metallic copper, used for coating iron wire,and well known to the arts. The sad-iron is taken by the handle and dipped in the solution so far that the bright parts are immersed, and allowed to remain until, by the chemical action, the said bright parts are well covered with a coating of copper.

This coating effectually preserves the polished iron from rust, and overcomes the difficulty of manufacturers and traders on this point. My invention thus presents to the trade and the public a sad -iron which will bear ordinary packing, which may be kept unwrapped on the shelves, and which may be set even in damp places, without damage. The,

coating of copper will wear off gradually af" ter usage, but not until the iron has become worn enough to prevent rust.

In the drawing accompanying this, Figure 1 is a side elevation of a sad-iron coated according to my invention. Fig. 2 is a bottom view of same.

A is the unpolished portion of the iron. B is the polished portion, covered with metallic coating.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to. secure by Letters Patent, is

A sad-iron covered at its polished face with a metallic coating, formed thereon by holding the face thereof in a chemical solution, as and for the purposes specified.

WILLIAM H. HOWELL.

Witnesses:

J. W. MUNDAY, L. L. OoBURN. 

